Deaf Man's Music
by lovejag
Summary: Gil thinks about his past and present.


"Deaf Man's Music" part 1/1 By Rita Widmer  
  
Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer. Rating: G Author's Note: This is in response to the letter fic challenge. V is for vibrations. Thanks to Erin for betaing this for me. Enjoy and review please.  
  
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Gil sat on his couch strumming his guitar with no piece of music in mind. He just wanted to hear the notes ringing in the air. Ever since he had his surgery he wondered how different his world would be if he had gone deaf, and what he would have had to give up in his life.  
  
Before his mother had lost her hearing, she had taught him to play the guitar. He wouldn't understand why until she lost her hearing.   
  
**** Gilbert Grissom hated to play the guitar. It seemed such a waste of time when he could be reading one of his science books, but he had never learned to tell his mother no. Now years after the first lesson he kept it up for his mother.   
  
That first lesson was after his mother learned that she was going slowly deaf, and all of a sudden she was telling him he was going to learn to play the guitar. She kept telling him it was so she could always hear the music.  
  
He would ask her how she could if she was going deaf, but the answer was always the same so she could hear it.  
  
Now her hearing was totally gone, and she hadn't made him play for awhile. He was glad he was not playing anymore, but something kept ringing in his head about wanting to hear the deaf man's music.  
  
Then something struck in his mind. He had learned it in a book the other day and he rushed up the stairs to his room. There in his book was his answer, and he knew what he needed to do so his mother could hear the music.  
  
Rushing down the stairs, he went down to the kitchen and grabbed his mother. He brought her to the couch, and gestured for her to sit. He went and grabbed his guitar and sat down.  
  
Taking her hand he set it on the front side of the guitar, and pleaded with her to just try it. A moment later he started playing her favorite song. It took a moment for her face to register what was happening, but then her face brightened. He knew she was hearing the deaf man's music. ****  
  
That night he had learned how his love for science could mix with music, and soon he loved to play the guitar. It was no longer separate from his world of science, but an element. To make music you needed physics. It was the vibration of the strings that made each note ring, and it was the same vibration that his mother could hear every night as he played for her as she touched the guitar.  
  
Catherine never understood his love for Beethoven. A man who didn't allow his hearing loss stop him from being able to write beautiful music until his early death. Using the vibrations of the strings(,) he was able to hear the notes. She probably believed his mentor would be some scientist, but it was Beethoven that taught him that life didn't end because you went deaf. Maybe it was about time to fix her thinking.  
  
"It is about time," he told himself out loud. "She's been your best friend for how many years, and she doesn't even know who your mentor is."  
  
He was determined to tell her, and no time like the present he decided. He grabbed the phone, and started dialing. Stopping for a second, he realized what he was going to do, but he knew it was the right thing to do.  
  
One...two...three rings. He was worried that she wasn't home when came over the line, "Hello."  
  
"Hi Cath. Did I catch you at a bad time?"  
  
"No, Gil. What's up? Is something wrong?"  
  
He tried to lighten his tone and sound more upbeat even for him. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight before work." `That didn't sound too strained, did it?' he asked himself. He was about to share a secret about himself that no one, but his mother knew about.  
  
"Sure, Gil. I'll bring Lindsey over to my sister's earlier then usual and I'll head over."  
  
"Are you sure, Cath? If your sister can't take her earlier we could make it a different night."  
  
"Gil, it's fine. I'll be there in an hour. How does that sound?"  
  
"Good, I'll see you then. Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
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He looked at his phone as he hung up. This could be a great night or go terribly wrong if she thought it was ridiculous and started laughing at his story. He knew this could bring their friendship back to the way it was in the old days when they were closer. Maybe even closer, but it would be up to her.  
  
He spent the hour cleaning up the house and started making them dinner. The table was all set up nicely. It's set up nicely; not to romantic.   
  
The knock startled him as he realized the hour was up. He opened the door to find Catherine standing there with a great big smile on her face, and he found himself smiling back.  
  
She stepped up in the doorway, and wiped away a little sauce off his nose. "Hi Gil, " Cath tried to say through her laughter.  
  
Gil blushed a little, but managed to say quietly, "Hey, come on in. Dinner's almost ready."  
  
She walked in, and saw the dinner table. "The table looks great. You didn't have to go through all that trouble."  
  
"Can't a guy do something special for his best friend?"  
  
"Of course, but you usually don't. Not that I don't appreciate it, but is something wrong?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong. Everything is great. I was thinking today about things, and decided that I wanted to do something special for you. Sit down. We`ll talk more about this later."  
  
Without another word he walked into the kitchen to finish the dinner leaving behind a stunned Cath. Dinner was nice, but the strain of the upcoming conversation halted most of it. No one knew what to say.   
  
Catherine said she would do the dishes, and wouldn't take no for an answer. So he went into the living room, and grabbed his guitar. Luckily she was too busy to notice him grabbing it.  
  
He started strumming it again as she finished doing the dishes. She looked up at him surprised. "When did you start playing the guitar?"  
  
"I've been playing since I was a little kid. Sit down. I want to tell you the story." He watched her face as he told her his story. It changed so many times over the short time it took to be told. "When she finally lost it all it seemed that she didn't want me to play it anymore. The transition was hard for her to lose it all and never hear a note again."  
  
"And you allowed her to hear it again."  
  
"Before that day I never liked playing, but when I saw her face light up I knew that it was worth all the time practicing and learning. Plus I learned music is science too."  
  
"Will you play for me? I want to hear it like your mother did."  
  
"How? You can hear it."  
  
"You've got some ear plugs, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, in the kitchen."  
  
She was soon in the kitchen, came back, and put the plugs in. She motioned for him to start playing. Putting her hand on the guitar. She shut her eyes, and felt the rhythm of the vibrations through the wood. Tears stung behind the eyelids.   
  
As the song ended, she opened her eyes to find Gil staring at her. He wasn't sure if there was ever more a beautiful sight then watching Catherine do what his mother did. He felt a special connection between her as his past and present came together in that moment.   
  
They stared at each other, their connection pulling them together, and they found their lips connected. For a moment, they enjoyed the physical connection, but soon they needed more. Sharing a sweet, gentle kiss as they finally got to taste each other.  
  
Too soon they broke apart, and they couldn't break the eye contact. It quickly became too much to handle, and Gil broke the moment saying, "Did I ever tell you Beethoven is my mentor?"  
  
Her laughter brought joy in his heart. Everything was going to be all right. Correction it was going to be more then all right. Whoever would have thought that the deaf man's music would bring them together.  
  
"I wouldn't have believed it before today. Thank you, Gil."  
  
The End 


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